Careers expert: How to answer the tell me about yourself job interview question and what not to say

How you should really answer the most common job interview question: ‘Tell me about yourself’

  • Job interviews often ask candidates: ‘tell me about yourself’
  • A career coach revealed the perfect response
  • She said not to rehash your whole work history 

A careers experts has revealed how to prepare the perfect response to the one questions asked in every job interview: ‘Tell me about yourself’. 

Sam DeMase, who is a career coach, self-advocacy expert and author, shared the the type answer employers are looking to hear and a foolproof method for remembering it. 

She said the one thing interviewees should avoid when asked to talk about themselves is to go over their whole employment history. 

‘Do not rehash your entire resume, you’re entire work history, they already have that,’ she said in a TikTok clip. 

Instead, Sam, from the US, said to use her W-A-T method by stating what you do, your achievements and tie those into the role you’re interviewing for. 

 

A careers coach has revealed how to give the perfect response to a potential employer when they say ‘tell me about yourself’

What is Sam’s the WAT method? 

When interviewers say ‘Tell me about yourself’, reply with: 

W – What you do

A – Your recent achievements 

T – Tie it in to the role you’re applying for 

She advised job hunters briefly describe what they do, their most relevant achievements and tie those achievements into how they could benefit the role they’re applying for. 

She shared an example of a good reply when asked to tell a potential employer about yourself.  

‘I’m a training and development leader with over ten yeas of experience in the retail space. In my most recent role I launched a brand new LMS program which increased employee completion rates by over 60 per cent,’ she said. 

‘I know in this role you’re looking for someone who is a results driven builder who has launched projects from the ground up, which is exactly what I do, so I’m especially excited to discuss this role today.’

The helpful clip racked up more than 906,500 views and hundreds were thankful for the ‘solid advice’. 

‘This is good stuff,’ one woman said and another wrote: ‘I was looking for this! Thank you!’. 

‘I just talk about my cats. Somehow it got me the leadership job,’ laughed a third while a fourth joked: ‘I was going to tell them my life story’.   

Sam DeMase (pictured) said to use the W-A-T method by answering what you do, your achievements and tying in how those achievements are relevant to the role

Sam DeMase (pictured) said to use the W-A-T method by answering what you do, your achievements and tying in how those achievements are relevant to the role 

‘As someone doing the hiring for the first time these videos have been so helpful in understanding what I should be looking for in candidates,’ someone else added.

However, others thought weaving in details about your personal life, like interests and hobbies, could be effective as well. 

‘I always say something fun about my personal life instead of the tie in, they know how you tie in already. Stand out from everyone else,’ one viewer said. 

‘So you shouldn’t say anything personal here? Like anything that makes you you?’ a third asked to which Sam replied: ‘You can share that too at the end if you like!’.

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